Caprica: "There Is Another Sky"Review

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Welcome to New Cap City.

By Eric Goldman

Wow, how about them suddenly taking Tamara Adama from peripheral character to super bad ass within one episode?

I'm really liking Caprica, but understand some complaining the show is too slow-paced or "not enough happens," as it seems clear this show is much more character-driven than plot-driven and is, by its nature, moving slower than many other genre shows. This episode however had a lot going on, as it took Tamara and put the focus on her for the first time, giving her a very cool and elaborate adventure, which added a lot to the show's world.

I was actually surprised by how fast things moved in Tamara's story here – elements I expected to take several episodes to pay off were already in play by the end of the hour. Once it was discovered that shooting Tamara didn't de-res her and send her out of the V-World (though it caused her the trauma and shock one would expect from being shot), it was hard not to look forward to seeing Tamara get past her fears and human-based emotion based around what it means to get shot, and embrace the fact that, within this virtual world, she is un-killable and invulnerable.

And lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. And not only did we see Tamara begin to kick some ass and shoot all of those guarding new character Vesta (more on her in a bit), but we also saw Tamara able to do things outside the realm of human actions, as she made the computer generated bank guards vanish.

The idea of "New Cap City" was, like a lot of things on this show, a bit goofy and yet also pretty cool – a virtual reality take on a Grand Theft Auto type game, albeit with the mixture of period looks that is becoming Caprica's trademark (loved Tamara all dolled up as a femme fatale out of a noir story). This episode also added a lot to giving the show much in the way of a Matrix vibe from the scenes in the V-World, especially when Tamara seemed to become something of The One and showed off her very special powers. Not that I'm complaining at all, mind you! It might seem a bit familiar, but it was done very well and obviously is within the context of a very different world.

As for Vesta, not to mention the nasty guy who seemed to have a taste for underage teenagers, it was good to see at least some adult presence in the V-World, as up until now, it had been entirely populated it seemed by teenagers. The idea that people like Vesta would eagerly take the opportunity to rise to power in this place made sense – and man, that game of group Russian roulette was appropriately sick, no?

The scenes with Joseph and Willie couldn't compete here, feeling a bit forced at points – would those school kids really yell racist taunts at Willie when his dad is standing there? Not to mention we never really saw how that situation was resolved. Did Joseph pay those kids off not to go to the police over Willie beating one of them up or something?

That being said, the final moments with the Adamas here was much more compelling, as we saw Joseph finally go through the Tauron ritual meant to send dead loved ones on to their next plane of existence, and in the process give Joseph and William the closure they needed. Of course this plan went very awry for Joseph when Tamara's new friend came knocking at his door, telling him he's seen Tamara in the V-World. Whoops!

One thing I have to say about the Tamara situation is that I hope William stays blissfully unaware of it for the duration of the series. It's already making the Battlestar universe a bit uncomfortably small to say William Adama's sister was tied into the events that led to the creation of the Cylons, but it's at least more acceptable if William never knew that – otherwise it's a pretty huge thing to have never come up in the midst of all we saw of William on BSG. Likewise, hopefully Tamara's story remains tied into the V-World, and we don't see her walking around in a Cylon body too down the line.

Speaking of that, Zoe only appeared in one scene (and once again didn't speak), but it was a great one. Seeing her obvious pride as a daughter in response to Daniel talking about how smart and powerful the Cylon is was a very well done moment – only for it to go horribly awry for the poor girl as we saw Daniel talk about how the Cylons were, in essence, the perfect slave race, who would work tirelessly, without rights of their own. This was capped off by Zoe having to go along with Daniel's order that she rip her own arm off, which deftly melded the heartbreak Zoe is going through with some of the biggest foreshadowing yet about the dynamic between human and Cylon that will lead to some very pissed off Cylons down the line and the inevitable events that follow.